10/13/2009

I haven’t had a chance to explore Japan’s best hamburgers yet. So far most of my dining has been tiny ramen shops, sushi joints, and all the restaurants I felt I should be exploring. By my rationale, if I wanted to eat burgers why did I come to Japan? I could have eaten this stuff at home, right?

Well yes. But as it happens, Japan looks like it has some pretty amazing burger joints as well. I’ve been reading about many of them online recently, and I thought I’d post about a select few that I’ve put on my list of 3 places I absolutely MUST visit. So in no particular order, here goes:

Zats Cafe’s Sasebo Burger

This looks so amazing, I can almost feel my blood clotting just looking at it. I’ve already heard some great reviews of this burger from Neil Duckett, Billy West, and Paul Hartrick. Drop over to their sites to read more details about their post-burger impressions of the Sasebo. And for information about how to find a location near you, check out these listings on gnavi.

This is the Burger!

That’s actually the name of the company, ‘This is the Burger.’ No joke. I first heard of these guys via the Mottekaero Jdonuts blog, in a post about a legendary 15 cm burger. Unfortunately the only locations are in Tachikawa and Kokobunji, so it’s a little out of my neighborhood. But I’m definitely keeping them on my list!

Firehouse Burgers

This is not so much a single monster burger like the previous two, but an all-around winning repertoire of burgers. Firehouse has an amazing menu, with crazy burgers like the Apple Burger, the Avacodo Burger, and the aptly named Mad Burger. I got my eye on the Chili Cheeseburger! Anyway check out their menu, and if you get a chance pay them a visit.